After heading to the PX and grabbing the supplies she needed, Claire stared at the building they were about to enter.

Compared to the other buildings on the base, there were no windows or signs letting outsiders know the types of activities going on inside.

"Thanks for the ride!" Chelsea waved a hand at the man in the jeep.

As it drove away, the man waved a hand at the three of them.

Claire watched the jeep go down the road before seeing the turn blinker light up, and it disappearing behind a building as it turned the corner. Looking back at Chelsea, "Seems like you're a popular person."

Hearing Claire's comment, Chelsea laughed and shook her head. "He's just someone I've been in training with a couple of times. As part of the Military Police for the base, I often work with other areas in simulations requiring cohesive teamwork."

"Like what?" Hannah asked, sounding curious about Chelsea's work.

As they stood in front of the building, Chelsea's expression turned more serious. "A lot of the simulation dealt with our base being invaded by a foreign force, requiring our ability to either fight off the intruders or give enough time for civilians to escape."

Claire's eyes widened at hearing such words out of Chelsea's mouth. "Chelsea?" Words felt like they were stuck inside of her throat.

Looking at Claire, Chelsea made a sad smile, "I'm guessing you're wondering why I would tell you such information?"

Slowly nodding her head, Claire felt a sense of dread building up inside of her.

Placing a hand on each of their shoulders, Chelsea took a deep breath. "I'm actually not allowed to talk about this stuff with you." She turned to look at the building where they'd be training as if to check if someone was listening in on what she was going to say. "The situation isn't looking good outside of this base." Chelsea paused her thoughts as if putting things in order before she said anything. "I'm assuming the both of you have been wondering why there are so many empty homes?"

Both Claire and Hannah didn't speak a word, both of them locked on Chelsea's words.

"Due to the nature of the type of work, we dealt with on this base, it was originally kept to only essential personnel necessary to keep everything running. The number of people able to work on these projects are few, most of them being picked up by private companies." Grimacing, she continued, "This base also had the additional responsibility to house the families of people working on the projects."

As Claire listened to what was being told to them, she remembered the night where people in strange vehicles showed up to take them away before the modified humans arrived. With how soon they were attacked, it was obvious that things didn't go as smoothly as planned. "Then all the homes...," Claire couldn't voice the realization in her mind.

Chelsea nodded, "We weren't able to extract the majority of the people we were keeping under surveillance. That night, when you, two, showed up, we were getting reports that nearly all of our forces were being destroyed and the families they were responsible for..." Chelsea remained silent.

Hannah raised a hand to her mouth, shocked by the news. "But there are so many homes empty." Her voice quivered.

"It was only thanks to companies we were working with, such as Star and Moon and another company, which even I don't know about, were able to bring in families safely to this base. In addition to those who were able to safely make it inside, there are also the soldiers already stationed here." Chelsea explained. Her eyebrows were furrowed as she remembered that night.

It appeared that Chelsea wasn't finished with what she was planning on sharing, so both Claire and Hannah stayed silent.

"The reason why I'm allowing you guys to join in on the training isn't just to keep you guys occupied, but instead to get ready for a real and dangerous possibility." Chelsea gripped their shoulders to drive in the point.

"Are the modified humans going to overwhelm this base?" Claire forced the words out of her mouth, feeling an uncomfortable aftertaste.

Chelsea didn't answer immediately.

"Chelsea?" Hannah asked, feeling the silence to be uncomfortable.

"Yes. We don't know when it'll happen, but based on our understanding of the creatures, it'll be a certainty that can't be avoided." Chelsea spoke out the words with a heavy heart. "This is why I want the two of you to be properly trained." She forced a smile. "The positive side is how you'll only be needing to run for a relatively short distance."

"What do you mean?" Claire was confused by what Chelsea was talking about.

Chelsea released both her hands from their shoulders. Looking around, as though trying to find something, she pointed away from the building towards the direction of where they lived. "Close to your homes, there's an area designed to protect those inside the base, until a rescue party can reach us."

"Why don't we just live inside of this area?" Claire raised an eyebrow, confused.

"Due to being underground, it's far more constraining compared to living above ground. Living in that kind of environment for long periods can take a toll on a person's mind." Chelsea sighed.

Feeling as though it was something she needed to ask, Claire hesitatingly voiced her concern. "If most of those families were killed on their way to the base, then doesn't that mean the modified humans are stronger than our military forces? Inside of the emergency shelters underground, won't we be waiting for help from people not likely to show up?" She tried to not think about having to live underground for decades, hoping to survive until help can arrive. "Will we even have enough food to last until help comes?"

Though the topic was scary and grim, Chelsea was able to offer a smile. "Though living in such a place may be a burden on the mind, food supplies aren't something we have to worry about."

"Why not?" Hannah made the follow-up question.

Chelsea looked at them, saying, "What I'm going to say can't be shared, especially this part. The emergency shelters were designed with the help of Star and Moon. The military contracted them to design the whole thing, so we don't have to worry about the quality."

With the name of Star and Moon popping out of Chelsea's mouth, Claire remembered the various buildings they had seen inside of Star and Moon Studios. There were things that she had witnessed, which still baffled her thoughts about how they were able to accomplish such tasks.

When Claire looked at Hannah, it was evident that Hannah was thinking of the same thing. During the time inside of Star and Moon Studios, they had spent days talking about all the different things they had witnessed, especially in the medical-related fields.

Chelsea tapped both of them with her hands, in an attempt to cheer them up. "It'll be okay. I'll make sure to keep an eye on the two of you whenever I'm not on my shift. If I hear anything serious coming up, I'll try to get you two into the shelters as soon as possible, meaning the training might not even be necessary." She tried to make a comforting smile, though it was apparent that she was concerned about the eventual outcome occurring. "Let's get inside and start you guys on the usual stuff."

Taking a deep breath, Claire tried to shake off the dread after hearing the words from Chelsea. It wasn't a happy thought, hearing someone in Chelsea's position talk about their world being plunged back into danger at a moment's notice.

Claire looked towards the walls protecting them, seeing the observation stations where soldiers would be monitoring their surroundings in hopes of detecting any modified humans. She tried not to think about how the soldiers protecting them are likely aware that they would be the first to die if modified humans were able to bypass the defenses. For a second, Claire could see the windows being covered in blood. Blinking a few times, the image of the blood disappeared as though it were only her imagination.

"What was that?" Claire shook her head.

"Claire?" Chelsea gently placed a hand on her arm. "You good?"

Trying to forget what she saw, Claire looked back at Chelsea, smiling and saying, "Let's go and have some fun while we also get some training."

As they walked towards the building, Claire looked back at the wall. She hoped that Chelsea was wrong about the threat from the modified humans. As she looked forward, following Chelsea, Claire wondered if her parents knew about the situation and if they were trying to hide the reality from her.